MDISInc.com

Cognos Software

As a certified Cognos® Business Partner, MDISInc.com Information Systems sells Cognos® software and implements its solutions for our SAP®, PeopleSoft®, and JD Edwards® clients.

Implementation and Training

We recommend Cognos® so our clients obtain a rapid ROI on their investment - on time and on budget - and often within 30 days. MDISInc.com's methodology enables our consultants to deliver value-added consulting services with competitive rates.

• Data ETL from SAP®, PeopleSoft®, and JD Edwards® to a Central Data Warehouse
• System/User Documentation
• On-Site Training
• Custom Reporting

Post Implementation Support and Services

MDISInc.com supports our clients with new Cognos® products, such as Reportnet, the latest reporting tool that is easy to implement and use. We also assist clients in evaluating which tools and components of Cognos® will provide the most value.

Cognos® Products

Enterprise Planning – Define hierarchy of plans, measures, and reports that flow from broad strategic objectives to tactical plans across departments, divisions, and locations. NoticeCast™ compliments Cognos® Business Iintelligence with the ability to monitor and automatically notify key people of events as they occur.

Enterprise Scorecarding – Measure progress and accountability by the results that matter. Implement any form of performance management initiative: Balanced Scorecard, Six Sigma, TQM, or your own internal system. Cognos® Visualizer/Dashboard is recognized as the best data-visualization product in independent industry reviews.

Enterprise Business Intelligence – Access information to make the best business decisions. Cognos® Business Intelligence capabilities allow large volumes of data to be meaningful and used in day-to-day activities. Create, modify, and distribute any type of OLAP report needed with easy-to-use ReportNet™.

Data Preparation/ETL – Cognos® DecisionStream™ is a fully automated, dimensionally-aware ETL software. It delivers a foundation for reporting and provides the metadata to start building reporting structures. ETL's exist for SAP®, JD Edwards®, and PeopleSoft®.

Analytic Applications – Includes pre-built reports, performance indicators, and connections with underlying data sources from ERP vendors. Packages reporting and analysis, scorecarding, and planning capabilities for areas of customer, supply chain, and financial/operational analysis.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act – Requires better corporate governance to shore-up investor confidence. To deliver the confidence at the heart of the Act, senior executives need transparency into disclosures and financial results, the processes that produce results, and the operational data that drives the results.

With Cognos®, companies can meet the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act: certification, disclosure, and timely reporting. More importantly, in meeting these requirements, your investment will result in better performance management, which will also provide a true competitive advantage.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

We continue to support our clients as their business requirements or software changes. This includes streamlining systems and process, user training, and upgrades. MDISInc.com can safely upgrade EnterpriseOne® clients to the latest release in days, not months.

EnterpriseOne® Expertise

From now until the end of the current fiscal year, companies will be required to document their financial reporting processes and related internal controls. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA) is designed to make companies more accountable to stockholders and the public in a post-Enron world. Auditors will attest (or not), to the effectiveness of each firm's internal controls and validity of financial statements and reports. Simple documentation of processes is addressed by creating a record that describes a company's management reporting process that can be validated and attested to by an external auditor.

But eventually, something more will be needed.

SOA Section 404 and 409

Companies may have been able to meet initial SOA compliance using well-defined processes and procedures, but compliance with upcoming Sections 404 (certification of financial reporting processes and controls) and 409 (real-time reporting of material events) may not be so easy.

The SEC has extended the certification deadline for SOA Section 404 compliance until midyear 2004, effectively giving most companies an additional year to comply with mandates for establishing solid processes and internal controls in financial reporting. With this extra time, multifaceted user teams can now thoroughly evaluate all potential remedies--both near-term and longer term--to prioritize and schedule any projects necessary for SOA compliance.

Rather than rushing the process, companies can do it right the first time. Why? Because it just makes good business sense.

What's the Impact?

A recent AMR survey revealed the following:

• Fortune 1000 companies have earmarked more than $2.5B this year in SOA investigation and initial compliance-related work.
• 85% of companies predict that SOA will require changes in IT and application infrastructure that support the business.
• 79% are unsure what implications the act will have for their company.
• 61% expect business process change will be required.

How do you begin to address compliance with SOA? Planning a cogent and thorough response to SOA compliance is critical for project and company success. We recommend the following steps:

• Form a diverse team to scope out the risks and exposure SOA brings to your company. Documenting what gets done today--in all its possible variations--is the first step to understanding what areas pose the greatest risk of exposure.
• Utilize qualified internal or external systems personnel to work with audit staff in reviewing system processes in relation to business practices.
• Have your accounting audit team certify your compliance with business process and documentation requirements. However, it is "unlawful for a registered public accounting firm to provide non-audit service including financial information system design and implementation". (Section 201, SOA)
• Use qualified system integrators to work with your audit team to not only identify processes, but begin using your ERP system to address Section 404 requirements.
• Turn on the capabilities in your ERP system to automate internal controls. Initial integrated ERP compliance tools will support Section 404 work and offer the best opportunity to contain long-term compliance costs on consolidated systems.

Smart companies' reaction to SOA compliance is somewhat analogous to reactions to Y2K. As with Y2K, companies can get the necessary gravity from SOA to promote systemic business improvements and changes already in evaluation and planning phases for months, or even years.